Masters Countdown: The role of momentum at Augusta National
Bubba Watson, Jordan Spieth, Adam Scott and momentum heading into the Masters.
By
Kyle Porter
•
1 min read
A little over a week ago, Bubba Watson was asked whether his second place finish at the Cadillac Championship would provide momentum for the Masters. I found his answer intriguing.
"I mean, being in the field at Augusta gives me good vibes," said Watson. "It means absolutely nothing what you do the week before or leading up to it. We all know that, but y'all have to write stories."
Is that true? It doesn't seem like it would be. I did a cursory search of the winners of the last five Masters winners. Here are their average finishes in the three tournaments leading up to Augusta.
Jordan Spieth: 1.7
Bubba Watson (2014): 4.0
Adam Scott: 22.0
Bubba Watson (2012): 7.7
Charl Schwartzel: 33.7
Spieth went first, second, second last year before the Masters win. Only Schwartzel averaged a finish outside of the top 25 in his three events leading up to his 2011 Masters win. Even then, he had a top 25 the week before those three events.
For Watson, the difference is even more striking. Consider his average finish in the three events leading up to his wins at the Masters and his average finish in the three events leading up to his other five Masters.
Wins: 5.8
Non-wins: 30.8
There has been, at least of late, a mild correlation between playing well in March and winning a green jacket. And for Watson specifically, the correlation has been especially strong. That should be good news for the lanky lefty. He's averaged a finish of 1.5 in his last two events with two more tournaments to be played before the 2016 Masters.
